Despite losing money each year, township officials voted unanimous to renew the lease at Deer Lake Beach.
With a $60,000-$70,000 deficit each year, Supervisor Dave Wagner sent a memo to board members about possibly not renewing the lease for the beach.
‘We’re kind of stuck for this year unfortunately because we have a lot of agreements, swim lessons, and life guards hired,? Wagner said at the July 23 special meeting. ‘What I would like the board to consider in lieu of our situation that we don’t renew it, or we only renew it for this season to re-look at it next year.?
Wagner noted they lost as much as $113,000 one year.
Trustee David Lohmeier asked if the recommendation not to renew was based solely on the deficit. Wagner said it was.
‘There is absolutely nothing other than that,? he said. ‘There are a lot of other areas in Parks and Rec that we need to look at when we have time. The beach issue is right in our face right now.?
Lohmeier asked if ancillary benefits were considered.
‘Whenever you experience a program like a beach or a swim lessons, we have an engagement with the citizens, we get awareness of our Parks and Rec programs, we get ancillary benefits from how to get engaged in other services,? he said.
‘So there is a revenue stream that you don’t see here that we also get from kids coming and continuing swimming lessons, going to the park and so on.?
Lohmeier said value also includes ‘the beach as a center point in the community, the prestige of what it offers, and the value to the residents.?
It also offers summer jobs to local youth as lifeguards, who in turn shop locally.
‘There is a multiplier effect that we get,? Lohmeier said. ‘This isn’t all stuff we count on our ledger, but it’s a result to having the beach open.?
Trustee Mark Petterson is proud of the lifeguards.
‘Our lifeguards are top rated in the state here, we’ve got some really great kids in there,? Petterson said. ‘I sat in on their study session that they had at 9 a.m. in the pouring rain and these kids are really smart.?
Trustee Neil Wallace said if they close the beach, property values would go down because ‘lake access properties are more valuable than properties without.? He raised another concern about shutting down the beach.
‘If we shut this down early and we don’t renew the lease, all the improvements we’ve made over all the years, tens of thousands of dollars, vanish,? Wallace said. ‘We have not fully amortized those yet and used them, so we’re throwing away spent dollars as well.?
Petterson said they need more details on how they can save money on the beach in the future and ‘make the pain of the needle not so bad.?
Parks and Recreation Department Director Mike Turk said they reduced the number of hours they operate in order to save some costs.
‘The only thing that puts us in a lose-lose situation is if we don’t renew ? we’d have no options,? Lohmeier said. ‘We just gave up a huge asset, we rolled the dice and took a risk, and we have no opportunity to get it back.?